Trillium vent/roof issue

[Stan G.]

Hi all, We are in the market for a little eggy type trailer. We are going to view this Trillium 1300 today and I am wondering what it will take to deal with this vent and sagging roof issue? These are photos from the ad so I don’t have any more at this point.

[Raz]

A guess. Someone cut the hole too big when installing a new fantastic fan. They tried to fix it with caulk and it leaked, delaminating the plywood spacer. Not the end of the world but it might require some fiberglassing skills. I would be more concerned that the leak didn't let moisture get to the plywood floor sandwiched between the two fiberglass floor panels. That's a tough repair.

[Stan G.]

We’ve just come from viewing. The seller has owned for only a few years and says the damage is very recent (this season). No way to know if it’s the truth or not. We are guessing he may have attempted to climb up on the roof to get at the vent? When you push on the roof from the inside, it pops back up easily but doesn’t stay. The floor felt solid and there didn’t seem to be any major signs of water damage where floor meets wall anywhere that we could see. I am attaching some photos (under the benches, band by the door, etc). Anyone see anything alarming?

[John in Michigan]

The close up of the "belly band" separated from the middle seam is a very common Trillium problem. There are about 40 small steel plates embedded in the seam. The aluminum trim is riveted to these steel plates. Over time the plates rust, pushing the fiberglass seam out and at the same time the rivets pop out. The typical solution, well documented in threads on this forum, is the grind the seam flat, remove the plates and permanently patch and seal the seam with fiberglass.

[thrifty bill]

The person did not add support to the roof for that vent. The roof is not designed to support a Maxx Fan or Fantastic fan.

The original 9 inch vent had a formed fiberglass raised flange around it, which both kept water at bay, and added support. Whoever did this job did not know what they were doing, and cut off the original supporting flange, weakening the roof further. Of course, to fit a larger vent in place, the original support does have to be removed. This is a CLUE that you can't just slap a heavier vent in place without support.

Bad move.

Check out the various Trillium threads on this site. You can quickly become an expert on what to check. Obviously the belly band will need to be removed and fiberglassed. Window seals, door hinges, body to frame bolts, are all areas where Trilliums need attention.

On the floor, other places to check are under the refrigerator (open the outside vent cover). Any soft spots anywhere are jumbo bad news on a Trillium.

The black stuff you see around the vent tells you this is NOT a recent problem! Water has been pooling up in that area for an extended period. The best installations I have seen involved extensive fiberglass work on the outside of the trailer.

Seller should have left the original vent in place instead of botching the job. Of course its too late now.

[Kommander]

Hi,

I am in the process of installing a Maxxair 07000 fan on my '74 1300. I have just finished epoxying 1/4" thick strips of marine plywood to the roof area where the fan will be installed.

I used three levelling jacks inside the trailer pressing a 4" wide 1/4" thick piece of wood padded by a folded up drop cloth to get the slight curve I wanted before epoxying each strip. (System Three Silvertip epoxy with silica added for thickening and making it into a gap filling adhesive)

Weights were applied to the strips to make them conform to the roof, masking tape used when needed to keep strips from moving.

The photo shows it after all strips applied and a first application of System Three Quikfair fairing compound.

Edited to add: This isn't a really difficult task. I should qualify that by saying I've built a couple boats and other water vessels with wood/fiberglass/epoxy so I am comfortable using those materials.